This season, the presentations in Milan offered an uncommon mix of established names and new emerging talents. Big brands like Giuseppe Zanotti and Sergio Rossi (who collaborated with Italian/Brazilian fashion plate Bianca Brandolini D’Adda on an all-black lineup) impressed with their characteristically lavish parties and equally luxurious footwear on displa […]

Nice Package

For the past couple years footwear companies have been taking an initiative to reduce the impact on the environment and one of the simplest ways is the packaging. For instance, in 2006 Timberland proposed a completely new plan to not only reduce their environmental impact but inspire others to do the same. Some of their proposal included the following:

• The “nutritional label” that will inform consumers about Timberland’s environmental and community impact.
• Footwear boxes made of 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste fiber.
• Footwear boxes using no chemical glues and only soy-based inks to print labels.
• Messaging inside the box that asks consumers “what kind of footprint will you leave” and provides a call to action for them after purchase.

One things big footwear companies have trouble getting around is the box shape container each shoe comes in and a lot of this has to do with shipping because boxes have always been the most efficient, and cardboard paper has always been the least costly and most effective. I did a search of footwear packaging and this patent filed in ‘95 shows another idea for the packaging- but one that could do some damage to shoes from shipping dock to dock.

But when it comes to special edition footwear, Nike doesn’t care about the “box” rule. For instance, the Nike Clot Air Force 1 comes in a special Chinese Candy Box™ packaging set.

So when it comes to cutting down on paper and adding in terms of innovation, Crisp has some ideas up our sleeves as well. Stay tuned.